A sight-reading routine that works

Sight-reading improves with volume: you need to read lots of different music, a little every day. Ten minutes a day for three months turns a hesitant reader into a comfortable one. You still need the right material and a regular method.

Choosing the right level: two notches below

Sight-reading material should be clearly easier than the pieces you are learning — about two levels below. If you have to stop often, it's too hard: you're doing piece-learning, not sight-reading. The goal is to read fluently, the way you read an easy book to gain fluency.

• Lower-level teaching collections, folk tunes, simple chorales.
• Public-domain scores (for example on IMSLP): minuets, dances, little pieces.
• Hymn or song sheets with chords.

The 10-minute session

1. 2 min — scales and chords of the key you are about to read: your hands "know" the terrain.
2. 1 min — the 30-second routine (clef, key signature, time signature, patterns, hardest spot).
3. 2 min — first non-stop reading, slow tempo.
4. 2 min — a second new extract, routine + reading.
5. 3 min — a third extract, or a slightly faster rereading of the first to measure progress.

Here is an extract to read with this routine. Mind the key signature: two sharps.

M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=88
K:D
D F A | d2 A | B A G | F2 E | D F A | B G E | F E C | D3 |]

Progression plan

Sight-reading with others

Playing duets or accompanying a friend (singer, violinist) is the best training: the music moves on without waiting for you, and you naturally learn never to stop. It's also the most fun.